Fortinet Sees Surging Hardware, SASE Demand as AI and OT Security Fuel Growth

Fortinet's hardware sales surged 52% in the second quarter, driven by accelerated demand from customers seeking to bolster security for artificial intelligence, operational technology, software-defined wide-area networking, and SD-WAN infrastructure. The company's Unified SASE offerings grew 35% and now account for roughly one-quarter of sales, while FortiSASE billings more than doubled.

CFO Christiane Ohlgart attributes the strong performance to the company's existing SD-WAN customer base and its integration of cloud security with edge hardware to expand SASE adoption. OT security and recurring services also showed growth, with OT billings up 55% and service billings increasing by 26%, bringing total recurring performance obligations to $7.7 billion.

Ohlgart highlighted broad-based global demand, strong hardware sales, and growing adoption of secure networking and SASE offerings as key factors behind the company's impressive growth in Q2.